The RAC said it was expecting up to 56, 000 breakdowns and widespread disruption on the roads if snow arrived over the weekend.

BBC: Freezing weather forecast for weekend

The wind-whipped snowstorm mercifully arrived at the start of a weekend, which meant fewer cars on the road and extra time for sanitation crews to clear the mess before commuters in the New York-to-Boston region of roughly 25 million people have to go back to work.

WSJ: Behemoth storm drops 2 feet of snow on Northeast

Mr Evans said the osprey arrived in the area last Friday afternoon and spent the weekend carrying our maintenance work on the nest.

BBC: Osprey moves into man-made nest